National firm will recruit candidates through fall

By Mallory Panuska

(Oct. 7, 2021) Seven people are officially poised to vet the next person who will lead operations at Atlantic General Hospital and Health System.

According to a news release issued this week, hospital officials have named local health care and community professionals to a committee who will lead the search for  Atlantic General’s next president and chief executive officer. The release said officials will hire a national search firm in the coming weeks, with a goal of assessing candidates through the fall.

“While the board of trustees will ultimately appoint our new president and chief executive officer, the search committee will be instrumental [in] shaping criteria for our candidates and in the review and assessment of applicants” Greg Shockley, the chairman of the Atlantic General Board of Trustees, said in the release.

“With the help of our search committee, we are committed to finding candidates who will lead our AGH caregivers in advancing our coordinated care system as an independent community hospital to provide access to quality care, personalized service and education to care for the residents of and visitors to our community.”

The position opened suddenly on Sept. 3 when longtime President and CEO Michael Franklin abruptly left. Hospital officials did not provide any other details about Franklin’s departure, just simply that his last day was Sept. 3.

Franklin served in the leadership role for nearly 17 years.

When Franklin left, the hospital board appointed Dr. Sally Dowling, the current vice president of medical affairs, to serve as president; and Kim Justice, the vice president of planning and operations, as CEO.

According to the release, the members of the recently appointed search committee are Charlotte Cathell, the secretary of the board of trustees and a member of the Atlantic General Hospital Foundation serving as chairwoman; trustee board member Aaron Finney, who also serves on the finance and information technology steering committees; Dr. Oswaldo Nicastro from Atlantic General Primary Care in Ocean Pines; And West McCabe, a registered nurse and director of emergency services at AGH; Dr. Stephen Waters, a primary care physician at Townsend Medical Center in Ocean City; Janet Mengal, a past president and current board member with the Atlantic General Hospital Auxiliary; Jonathan Bauer, the vice president of information systems at the hospital; and Michael Marshall, the president and CEO of Marshall Hotels & Resorts in Salisbury.